MHS students step to the “plate” at culinary competition

Four MHS culinary arts students brought home bronze medals for their food preparation and presentation at the recent American Culinary Federation competitions.

Rex Sherry, who heads the CTE Culinary Arts department at Maricopa High School, told school board members Wednesday that his students “were under a ton of pressure and really stepped up to the plate.”

Due to some scheduling confusion the students had only two weeks to prepare for the event.

Maricopa students made up 25 percent of all the contestants. The bronze medalists (bronze was the highest award in their category) were Randi (Jo) King, Alexandria Martinez, Madalina Cutajar and Ann Nguyen.

Each student had 15 minutes to set up their station, 15 minutes to make their dish and 10 minutes to plate it, plus 15 minutes to clean up the station.

King was praised by the judges for her knife work. Martinez made Chicken Kiev with rice pilaf, and Cutajar made a unique artichoke dish. Nguyen’s presentation featured homemade pierogis and green bean almandine with mustard sauce.

“The judges expect perfection, and that’s what they got,” said Sherry.

Photo by Cindy Price